Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - edition no. 2088
Transcription
Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - edition no. 2088
environmental protection behind expectations wynn accuses jeffrey fiedler of ‘bullying’ Asked about the reason behind his dismissal, Cheong Sio Kei admitted that environmental protection does not meet residents’ expectations The Cotai Land Deal website is another attempt “to bully Wynn Resorts and our employees into supporting the Union,” said the company world cup: spain hopes to reverse luck P3 P19 P3 WED. 18 Jun 2014 T. 27º/ 33º C H. 70/ 95% N.º 2088 Blackberry email service powered by CTM MOP 5.00 HKD 7.50 Founder & Publisher Kowie Geldenhuys Editor-in-Chief Paulo Coutinho “ THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’ ” WORLD BRIEFS ap photo Japan’s parliament to begin debate on gaming law China The world seems to have moved on from the frenzied interest in the mysterious airplane disappearance, but relatives of the 239 people missing cannot. In the more than 100 days since her husband disappeared along with Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Zhang Qian’s world has collapsed. She quit her job, sleeps rarely and prefers not to go out, except to the Buddhist temples where she has found some solace. More on p10 Afghanistan The top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan says the U.S. has increased its surveillance over the AfghanPakistani border since Pakistan began pounding a militant stronghold with airstrikes, but so far officials have not seen any militants fleeing the latest offensive. More on Pakistan on p12 More on backpage bloomberg ad Osaka, Japan’s third-biggest metropolis, proposed the reclaimed island in Osaka Bay as the casino resort site after lawmakers submitted a bill to legalize gaming to parliament P8 Opponents to Taipa gas station received “bureaucratic answers” P5 MACAU 2 18.06.2014 wed th Anniversary 澳聞 Thailand’s political turmoil “a cyclic event,” says historian Catarina Pinto T hailand’s political turmoil is “nothing new,” says local historian and former Cultural Affairs Bureau head Jorge Morbey, who lived for four years in the Southeast Asian country as a cultural counsellor for the Portuguese embassy in Bangkok. In his opinion, military coups have been used by Thai nationals over the years, and that somehow military forces have been allowed to intervene whenever democracy seems “too ill.” As pointed out by a Reuters report on Thailand’s political situation, at the heart of almost a decade of political turmoil “is a conflict between the Bangkokbased royalist establishment dominated by the military, oldmoney families and the bureaucracy, and an upstart clique led by former telecommunication mogul Thaksin Shinawatra which draws much of its strength from the provinces.” Former prime minister Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and has lived in self-exile since 2008, is the brother of the most recent deposed prime minister of Thailand, Yingluck Shinawatra. Thaksin, however, Thai soldiers in Bangkok and Jorge Morbey (inlet) was the “real power” behind his sister’s regime. Talking to the Times on the sidelines of a conference at Rui Cunha Foundation, Jorge Morbey recalled the first time he visited Thailand, back in 1965. “I was in the island of Ko Samet and, at that time, a military coup took place. We didn’t really understand any- thing. The Thai TV was transmitting this coup and it was the first ‘coup d’etat’ I had the opportunity to witness,” he said. He believes that these are cyclic events in Thailand, as democracy has been established but interests continue to be so diverse. “The epicenter [of the political turmoil] is Thaksin Shinawatra, who was previously prime minister, and he’s a business tycoon who generated a lot of money.” The historian emphasized that these are “cyclic events” and that “it never draws on to worse scenarios because the military intervene.” The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), Thailand’s ruling junta, seized power by force of arms on May 22, while ousting a civilian government and detaining politicians. As complex as it gets, “Time” magazine reported last week that the ruling junta is now saying that no military coup took place. Asked about the future of Thailand under the rule of the junta, Jorge Morbey explained that the armed forces “do not have conditions to constitutionally structure Thailand, as the only thing that brings the Thai together is the King. It’s monarchy.” “But the King is already quite old and there are two crowned princes, the older son and one of the daughters. When the King dies, a council of regency will get together to decide on who will be the next King. And they might not choose the first in the line of succession,” he added. Furthermore, although Thailand’s ruling junta might hold the aim of serving the people, Jorge Morbey explained that they don’t hold the necessary political training to comply with such a goal. “Sometimes they do not comply with certain democratic ideas. It’s not very healthy, but [these military coups] put an end to instability cycles that Thailand faces periodically,” he said. The historian describes the country as a little surprise box. “The Thai are very friendly people, apparently very peaceful. But when violence arises, it tends to escalate.” Arts Festival comes to a close, ticket sales near 90 pct T he 25th Macao Arts Festival (MAF) has come to a close, following over a month of more than different 30 acts, and more than 200 performances, exhibitions, and outreach activities, including workshops and master classes. According to the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), the event was “well received by audiences from home and abroad, with ticket sales figures nearing 90%.” For this edition of the festival, IC reiterated the fact that that it organized a press conference in Guangdong for the first time. It also established partner- ships with local media outlets, such as a program exchange with Music FM Radio Guangdong and the establishment of an official Macao Arts Festival Weibo account. Furthermore, in order to commemorate the Silver Jubilee, IC planned and produced the “Macao Arts Festival Silver Jubilee Commemorative Documentary,” which allows viewers to revisit the festival’s history and landmark moments in the past. Local shows comprised more than half of the event’s program, including the opening concert that took place at Tap Seac www.macaudailytimes.com.mo MDT’s Website has logged over 72 million page views since January 1st, 2012 up to today. Thank You! Like us? facebook.com/mdtimes Square and the MAF’s closing performance: “A Dream of Light.” In a bid to promote the arts within different communities and social groups, the festival organizers designed over 40 outreach activities, including master classes, workshops, seminars and post-show discussion sessions. This attracted the participation of over 2000 people. With the cooperation of the Social Welfare Bureau, the festival also took underprivileged groups to watch three performances of the puppet show “Special Creatures.” Director and Editor-in-Chief_Paulo Coutinho paulocoutinho@macaudailytimes.com Managing Editor_Paulo Barbosa paulo.barbosa@macaudailytimes.com Contributing Editors_Eric Sautedé, Leanda Lee, Severo Portela China & foreign editor_Vanessa Moore vanessa@macaudailytimes.com Design Editor_João Jorge Magalhães magalhaes@macaudailytimes.com | Newsroom and Contributors_Albano Martins, António Espadinha Soares, Catarina Pinto, Cyril Law, Emilie Tran, Grace Yu, Irene Sam, Jacky I.F. Cheong, Jenny Philips, João Pedro Lau, Joseph Cheung, Juliet Risdon, Keith Ip, Renato Marques (photographer), Richard Whitfield, Robert Carroll (Hong Kong correspondent), Rodrigo de Matos (cartoonist), Ruan Du Toit Bester, Sandra Norte (designer), Sum Choi, Viviana Seguí | Associate Contributors_JML Property, MacauHR, MdME Lawyers, PokerStars | News agencies_ Associated Press, Bloomberg, MacauHub, MacauNews, Xinhua | Secretary_Yang Dongxiao amy@macaudailytimes.com A Macau Times Publications Ltd Publication Administrator and Chief Executive Officer Kowie Geldenhuys kowie@macaudailytimes.com Secretary Juliana Cheang juliana@macaudailytimes.com Address 2nd Floor 62 Av. Infante D. Henrique, MACAU SAR Telephones: +853 287 160 81/2 Fax: +853 287 160 84 Advertisement advertising@macaudailytimes.com For subscription and general issues: general@macaudailytimes.com | Printed at Welfare Printing Ltd send newsworthy information and press releases to: newsroom@macaudailytimes.com website: www.macaudailytimes.com.mo ISSN 2305-4271 wed 18.06.2014 th Anniversary 澳聞 C heong Sio Kei is leaving his post as director of the Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA). He will be temporarily replaced by the deputy director of DSPA, Vai Hoi Ieong, who will be named as the DSPA’s acting director. Asked about the reason behind his dismissal, Cheong Sio Kei admitted that the environmental protection works in Macau still do not meet residents’ expectations. According to a press release issued by the Office of the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Cheong Sio Kei will be appointed as director of the Cartography and Cadastre Bureau (DSCC), filling the vacancy left by former DSCC director Chan Hon Peng, who retired last month. Cheong Sio Kei told the media that he is complying with the Macau government’s arrangement and has asked people not to over-speculate about him being transferred to the same position. He said that the decision was made after lengthy consideration. “I think when we look at this matter, there should not be any over-speculation (…) DSPA has entered a [new] stage and is on track now. Therefore, [the transfer] is an appropriate arrangement.” The director believes that DSPA’s works have already achieved some preliminary results. He expressed hopes that DSPA can work on narrowing the gap between the bureau’s performance and residents’ anticipation. “We hope that our work on protecting the environment will have port and Public Works, Lau Si Io, described Cheong Sio Kei as “sincere and earnest” and praised his efforts in developing the new department. Cheong Sio Kei is returning to a previous post; he was the acting director of DSCC before becoming the first DSPA director Cheong Sio Kei will be appointed as director of the Cartography and Cadastre Bureau Cheong Sio Kei the support of the public. I think criticism is all right and that it is a type of interaction with the residents to gather their opinions in order to improve our environmental protection work.” In the abovementioned press release, the Secretary for Trans- Cotai Land Deal “is another attempt to bully Wynn,” company says Catarina Pinto T he recently launched website Cotai Land Deal has been seen by Wynn Resorts as another attempt by Jeffrey Fiedler, from the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), to “bully” the company. Replying to The Times via email and commenting on the U.S. trade union’s recent initiative, Wynn Resorts stressed that “this website is the latest effort in Mr Fiedler’s attempts to bully Wynn Resorts and our employees into supporting the Operating Engineers Union.” Jeffrey Fiedler was the initiator of “CasinoLeaks- 3 Cheong Sio Kei leaves DSPA, admits environmental protection behind expectations Macau”, a website promising to release information on organized crime, which shut down six months after its launch. He is also the director of special projects within IUOE. Last month, the International Union of Operating Engineers also focused on Wynn’s operations, as it called on a review of a junket operator working with Wynn, claiming he had connections with 14K triad members. On the Cotai Land Deal website, the IUOE draws on a real estate transaction that allowed a Wynn subsidiary to acquire land, on which the company is now building its first casino resort in the Cotai Strip. They are trying to investigate the companies and investors behind the deal. In its statement, Wynn added that Mr Fiedler is only resorting to this website as “he refuses to accuse us directly of any misconduct.” Furthermore, Wynn Resorts assured that if IUOE directly accused the company, they “would respond to it in court.” The company concluded by saying that Jeffrey Fiedler’s tactics “do not merit any serious response.” Mr Fiedler claims that one of the most interesting questions regarding Wynn’s land deal in Cotai remains to be “why were people given rights to land after the bureau’s establishment in 2009. The bureau has been criticized on several issues in the past five years. One of the more noticeable matters involved the Macau Solid Waste Incineration Plant in Taipa. Local television broadcaster MAST-TV alleged that the plant infringed the limits of exhaust emissions after receiving a tip-off from an anonymous worker. “There is no violation of safety standards and the terms of the contract between the company and the Government wasn’t broken,” said Cheong Sio Kei at the time. Nevertheless, a DSPA official told the Hong Kong television channel TVB that the system would experience “operational shock”, and exceeded the emission limit when it was incinerating a large amount of solid wastes made of particular materials. It was also alleged that the toxic waste ash that was produced during the incineration process was not properly transported and buried. Media discovered that the ash was not transferred in a sealed container. The waste ash-processing centre also failed to cover its land with cement, which meant that the ash could contaminate the soil and groundwater. DSPA was also criticized for the air pollution in Ka Ho. School principals and residents complained about the pollution that was allegedly caused by the cement factory nearby for a long time, but DSPA only addressed the issue after multiple media reports and a visit by the Chief Executive to Ka Ho. bloomberg João Pedro Lau MACAU Because he [Jeffrey Fiedler] refuses to accuse us directly of any misconduct, which we would respond to in court, his tactics do not merit any serious response Wynn Resorts statement without those rights being documented?” The IUOE has been tracking “unreported circumstances” surrounding the company’s acquisition of its property in Cotai. Their research is now focusing on TienChiao group, to whom a Wynn Resorts subsidiary paid USD50 million to acquire their land rights. In its latest post, the IUOE continues to track an address in Hong Kong cited by Ho Hoi, majority owner of TienChiao. This has led them to another company apparently using the same address in Hong Kong: Take Roll Company Limited – as well as another enterprise titled Atod Investments. The latter was registered using the HK Identification Number of Chan Mei Seung, the current director of Take Roll Company Limited, which operates from the same address attributed to TienChiao’s group. 4 MACAU Macau to build one more power line to mainland Arnaldo Santos, head of the Office of the Development of the Energy Sector (GDSE), has revealed that the Macau government is planning to build a third power line to the mainland in 2017. This move is expected to help meet Macau’s energy demands in the upcoming decade. The GDSE head stated that there has to be a backup line for the mainland to transmit electricity to Macau. At present, there are two electricity transmission channels between the mainland and Macau, which are located at Gongbei and the Lotus border. When the third channel is finished, it will increase the total electricity transmission to 3,150 megawatts. Even if a power line is broken, there will still be other channels for electricity transmission. The authorities are still choosing a suitable location for the third power line and will disclose more information in the future.Moreover, Arnaldo Santos suggested that in the first few months of the year, Macau relied mostly on the mainland for electricity. He stressed that southern China’s power grid is very dependable and reassured the public that Macau would not face a massive blackout even in the event of a malfunction in the mainland’s electricity transmission. ad 18.06.2014 wed th Anniversary 澳聞 More than 500 students graduate from MPI Grace Yu I t’s the season of graduation. Yesterday about 500 graduates from the Macao Polytechnic Institute (MPI) were conferred with bachelor degrees or diplomas. Officiating the graduation ceremony, the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Cheong U, said that the government will continue to support MPI in developing professionals for practical services for Macau. He encouraged MPI to conduct management, teaching and research according to international standards. A graduate, Hui, who majored in information and technology, said he feels lucky that he has found a job before graduation. Working as an IT technician, he hopes to gain experience to improve his ability to compete in the industry. A social work graduate said she plans to enroll in continued education programs to impro- ve her skill set for the career. “As a social worker, organizations will also provide training for us.” Determined to be a social worker, she hopes to serve families and schools in the future. Sister Wong told journalists that she graduated with an associate’s degree in social work in 1998, and decided to return to university after more than 10 years. Graduating with a bachelor in social work this year, she admitted it’s a great challenge to study at her age but one could overcome all obstacles and achieve his goals. A separate ceremony at MPI marked the inauguration of a statue depicting Chinese philosopher Confucius. The statue was sculpted and donated to to the institute by well-known artist Wu Weishan, founder and president of the Chinese Academy of Sculpture. A contemporary Chinese sculptor, Wu has been MPI’s guest professor and external expert for more than ten years. Yesterday also marked the unveiling ceremony of his sculpture studio at MPI. The Confucius statue is in the ground hall of MPI’s Meng Tak Building, where Wu’s studio is also located. Eleven other sculptures are also displayed in the studio. Lei Hong Iok, President of MPI, said that the exhibition aims to showcase Wu’s artistic achievements and contributions to the improvement of MPI’s art education. Mr Wu expressed during the ceremony that the first time he held a sculpture and painting exhibition in Macau, and visited MPI, was in 1999. “I have also witnessed MPI’s development since Macau’s return to the motherland,” he said. wed 18.06.2014 th Anniversary 澳聞 João Pedro Lau R esidents of Small Taipa Hill felt that the government only gave them a bureaucratic response during a meeting two days ago regarding the dispute over the installation of a gas station in Taipa. They also claimed that they would not rule out other actions to express their opposition to the station. Ms Tsang, a representative of the residents, told the Times that they felt the responses received during the meeting were no more than bureaucratic answers. Authorities, she claimed, have never stepped into the residents’ shoes and thought about the issue from their perspective. “They were not truly seeking a consensus and were only standing their ground.” She added that the residents were very tolerant during the meeting for if they hadn’t been, they would have surely rebuked the government officials on many issues. Meanwhile, one of the govern- ap photo Opponents to Taipa gas station received “bureaucratic answers” ment representatives, the head of the Urban Planning Department at the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT), Lao Iong, has told the media that the location of the future oil station has met the national safety standard. He also reiterated that the population in Taipa is increa- Lawmaker demands action on accumulated court cases L eong Veng Chai has asked the Macau government to reveal its plan for reforming the local judicial system, as well as the assistance it provides to the people involved in court cases that remain unresolved despite having had a long trial period. In a written enquiry, the lawmaker pointed out that there were more than 17,000 cases accepted by the courts of Macau in the 2013 legal year, and more than 8,000 of these cases were not closed. Thousands of cases are still accumulated in the legal system, with some of them having a trial period that has lasted longer than a decade. This, Leong Veng Chai believes, is bringing huge distress to the people involved in the cases. The lawmaker alleges that some residents have told him that the situation can also cause various inconveniences. For example, he discovered that there was a 14 year old case where the property right of a residential apartment was at stake. Since the property was frozen, the owner cannot move into the apartment. He was also prevented from applying for public housing because of the owner’s disputed right to the apartment. Leong Veng Chai suggested that the major reason for the accumulation of court cases is the lack of legal personnel such as judges. Therefore he asked the government for its plan to reform the local judicial system, as well as its willingness to increase the number of judges and court clerks, in order to resolve the issue. He also wanted the government to clarify whether it has any measure to support residents whose lives have been disrupted by the long trial period. JPL sing. Therefore it can be foreseen that the demand for petrol in the area will increase, which means that it is necessary to build more gas stations there. Moreover, Mr Lao claimed that if the government changes the contract with the petrol company, there might be compensation in- volved. He stated that “if everything was done according to the law and the government unilaterally changes the contract, it might involve compensation, even some legal issues.” He also added that any changes might cause problems in the future when building social service facilities. However, Ms Tsang thinks that this is the officials’ responsibility and “the consequence of neglecting the will of the public.” “You build the facilities for the residents. But you did not notify or discuss [it with residents] beforehand and even demolished something [a park] that people are using,” Ms Tsang expressed. The resident claimed that the government representatives only promised to ask the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau to inspect the trees in the now enclosed area to see why their conditions are deteriorating. She stated that there will be further actions carried out by the residents, but has to rule out rallying as a form of protest. Gov’t encourages casual clothes for energy-saving Grace Yu T he annual “Casual Clothes in Summer, Save the Energy” campaign kicked off yesterday. Organized by the Office for the Development of Energy Sector (GDSE), the campaign calls for staff in public departments and other participating institutions to dress lightly for work, so as to avoid resorting to setting a low airconditioner temperature, which would save energy.The suggested temperature for air-conditioners is no lower than 25 ° C. In the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) located in Rua do Campo, the staff were dressed in their new summer uniform. According to Michelle Sou, chief of the administration and finance division, staff at the front desk need to dress neatly, so the uniforms are designed to be light in color and are made with thin materials. She said that every summer, they remind their colleagues of energy saving measures. “Besides wearing light materials, the staff turn off lights, computers and some air conditioners when they are out of the office during lunch time.” A hotel’s general manager said that the air conditioners of their guest rooms and offices had been adjusted so that they could only be 25 ° C or above. In addition, tungs- MACAU 5 AMCM issues warning on bitcoin transactions The Monetary Authority of Macau (AMCM) has called on the public to be cautious about engaging in bitcoin transactions. The department has said that it has received enquiries recently regarding the transaction of bitcoin in Macau. It stated that bitcoin is only a virtual commodity “which is neither a legal tender nor a financial instrument subjected to supervision of AMCM.” It also said that according to the laws of Macau, commercial entities are prohibited from using words like “ATM” to imply the idea of operating the business of a credit institute. The trading of virtual commodities like bitcoin, AMCM said, also involved “considerable risks” such as those relating to money laundering and terrorist financing. It advises participants and the general public to be vigilant. Former CCAC head says investigations follow need The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture and former Commissioner Against Corruption (CCAC), Cheong U, has said that authorities would not investigate the alleged corruption by former Chief Executive Edmund Ho if there was no “actual need.” HK media outlet Next Magazine published a cover story last week that claimed that the former CE Ho is being probed by the central government. On the sidelines of a public event, Cheong was grilled by journalists about the report. “As a former CCAC commissioner, I would rather say, ‘Be like dad, keep mum’,” said Cheong. Citing the expression used by HK Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) to promise a silent mode of service, the Secretary said he would not comment on the case. Noise Law penalty rises to MOP1,000 ten light bulbs have been replaced with LED lights. The hotel is able to bring down the power tariff by 3 to 5 percent every year, and two percent of the revenue is saved as funds for energy-saving facilities. The campaign lasts until the end of August. An award presentation ceremony for the fashion design competition, with the theme of recycling used clothes, was held at Venetian Macau yesterday evening. The event is part of the “Macau Energy Conservation Week 2014”. A “Light-off for 1 hour” activity was held from 8:30p.m. to 9:30p.m. on Monday, during which a music concert was organized at the Macau Forum. GDSE announced the event saved 27,000 kilowatts per hour. There will be seminars given by speakers from the mainland and Korea tomorrow, and a bicycle competition will take place this Saturday. The Macau government has submitted a new draft of the Noise Law and has proposed to raise the amount of the fine to MOP1,000. The President of the Legislative Assembly (AL) First Standing Committee, Kwan Tsui Hang, revealed that committee members have different opinions on the proposal and could not reach a conclusion. “Some [members] suggested that if [the government] sets a harsher penalty, people will take the law more seriously. Others think that the fine should not be that high to begin with,” she said.The committee also advised the administration to introduce clauses into the legislation to allow emergency construction works, such as the repair of water pipes, to be carried out during the noise prohibition period between 8 p.m. and 9 a.m. Moreover, the lawmakers believe that it is not necessary for the legislation to include a one-year transition period for traditional drivers to be phased out, since they are no longer deployed in construction projects. 6 MACAU 18.06.2014 wed th Anniversary 澳聞 M acau will reduce the maximum number of days that Chinese passport holders with transit visas can stay in the city from seven to five, in an attempt to prevent them from abusing the law. Consequently, casino shares have dropped. Transit visitors from China who don’t depart for another destination within the five days will be in violation of the new rules, effective July 1, and will be penalized upon their next visit, the city’s Public Security Police (PSP) revealedin a statement. Repeated violations will result in denial of entry. A PSP official told local and Hong Kong media that they will find and investigate over 100 Chinese passport holders who don’t comply with the in transit rule. Chinese tourists have been bloomberg New rules for in-transit visitors to be applied July 1 driving the revenue of casino companies in the world’s largest gambling hub. The companies are competing for gamblers by adding malls, theaters and restaurants to their resorts. An improved rail connection and an in- Economy expected to grow by an average of 11% M acau’s Gross Domestic Product is expected to grow by an average of 11 percent in 2014/2015, with a rate of 11.3 percent this year and a slight cooling to 10.6 percent in 2015, according to projections from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). In its latest report on Macau the EIU said that economic expansion was based on “healthy growth in exports of services,” as a result of continuing strong inflows of visitors from mainland China seeking out the territory’s casinos. Gross fixed capital formation or investment will remain strong in 2014 base don a large number of large hotel projects in Cotai, a land reclamation area between the islands of Coloane and Tai- ad pa, which will slow in 2015 as these projects come closer to conclusion. According to the EIU report, investment this year is expected to grow by 14.2 percent year on year and then drop abruptly to 6.0 percent in 2015. The rate of inflation will remain more or less stable despite a slightly higher rise than in 2013, of 5.5 percent, and the EIU projects it to rise to 6.0 percent this year and 6.3 percent in 2015. The remainder of the main indicators, such as the base interest rate, the territory’s budget deficit and the exchange rate against the main currencies, such as the dollar, yen and euro, will remain stable. MDT/Macauhub crease in hotel rooms are helping draw more vacationing Chinese to Macau and the country’s legal casinos. “We do not think this new policy will have a measurable impact on gaming revenue,” Grant Govert- sen at investment bank Union Gaming Group said yesterday. “It is important to keep in mind that most high-value casino customers typically come to Macau about four times per year.” Most visitors to Macau only stay a day Acoustics of UM’s new University Hall tested B rian Montgomery, Bass/Baritone of the New York Metropolitan Opera Star, tested the acoustics of the University of Macau’s New University Hall. Mon- tgomery sung Broadway hits and opera arias without any amplification or accompaniment. According to a press release issued by UM, the singer pronounced the or two, he said. The new rules follow a recent report conducted by the Chinese state media CCTV, which revealed that around a million people are estimated to have entered the region last year using a travel loophole. Travel agencies in Shenzhen and Zhuhai have been promoting the scheme, which promises to “help” clients enter Macau and Hong Kong via non-legitimate visas and flight tickets. According to the immigration laws of Hong Kong and Macau, mainland residents can enter the two Special Administrative Regions and stay for up to seven days if they are in transit and traveling to a third country later. They are required to present their Chinese passport, a flight ticket, or the visa issued by the country of destination. MDT/Bloomberg acoustics to be most agreeable to him whilst both singing and speaking, and the audience agreed. The test occurred last week during a visit organized jointly by BBAM (British Business Association of Macau) and FMBA (French Macau Business Association) with UM’s Moon Chun Memorial College to UM’s new University campus. Eileen Stow, chairman of BBAM, commented on the visit, saying that: “The buildings we saw were amazing, but they are just bricks and mortar. It is the knowledge that those buildings are being filled with such drive, energy and enthusiasm, as it surrounded us that day, that fills us with confidence that the new University is now a place to watch, and a place that will put Macau on the international stage for positive reasons (along with egg tarts!).” wed 18.06.2014 th Anniversary 廣告 ADVERTISEMENT 7 8 BUSINESS 分析 bloomberg J We need to consider measures to prevent crime, maintain public order and the healthy education of the young as well as to prevent addiction th Anniversary Japan’s parliament to begin debate on casino gaming law Maiko Takahashi, Takashi Hirokawa and Isabel Reynolds apan will start debate today on a bill to legalize casinos, paving the way for its passage before the end of the year. Discussions will begin in a committee of the lower house at 9 a.m., said Masahiko Shibayama of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The bill, which was submitted to parliament last December, will not be passed before the end of the session on June 22 and will be taken up again when the Diet resumes in autumn, said LDP lawmaker Hiroyuki Hosoda. Backers of the bill say it will help boost tourism to Japan, which is preparing to host the 2020 Olympics, while casino operators are considering investing billions of dollars in what could become Asia’s second-largest gaming market after Macau. Japan currently allows betting on horse, bicycle and boat races, as well as pachinko. “I want to pass it in the lower 18.06.2014 wed Osaka, Japan’s third-biggest metropolis, proposed the Yumeshima island, a reclaimed island in Osaka Bay, as the casino resort site after lawmakers submitted a bill to legalize casinos Govt’s strategy document house at the beginning of the next session of parliament, then enact it without fail in the upper house,” said Hiroyuki Hosoda, the LDP member who heads the lawmakers’ group on what are called “integrated resorts.” Shares in Japanese companies that could gain from gambling advanced. Game -maker Konami Corp. rose 2.1 percent to 2,300 yen. Japan Cash Machine Co. rose 8.4 percent to 1,944 yen and Oizumi Corp., which makes equipment for pachinko parlors, rose 8 percent to 1,049 yen. Konami announced in May it would set up a company aimed at investing in casinos. “We can expect a boost to tourism, the regions and to industry, but we need to consider measures to prevent crime, maintain public order and the healthy education of the young as well as to prevent addiction,” the government said in a strategy document on economic growth released on June 16. The document urged the government bureaucracy to proceed with consideration. The experience of U.S.-based gaming companies in dealing with anti-graft rules in other countries would reduce the risk for local leaders, Billy Ng, head of Asia gaming, lodging The bill will not be passed before the end of the session on June 22 and leisure for the Bank of America Corp. said in an interview. Ng declined to identify any companies that may be likely to be selected for a license. “They have experience dealing with very tight racketeering environments in different jurisdictions, not just the U.S.,” Ng said of the U.S. companies. “It’s a lower risk for Japan politicians if they pick them.” Komeito party lawmaker Masakazu Hamachi, who serves on the cabinet committee, said in a May interview that it would be difficult to pass the bill in the current session for scheduling reasons. He added that once debate began, the bill had a good chance of passage in the next session, which is likely to start in September or October. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s coalition has a majority in both houses of the Diet, which will ease passage of the bill. Bloomberg corporate bits 43rd founders’ day celebration at hard rock hotel, city of dreams macau Hard Rock Hotel at City of Dreams Macau recently celebrated its 43rd Founders’ Day, joining hundreds of Hard Rock locations around the globe. Founders’ Day is the day when everything started for Hard Rock. The first Hard Rock Café opened in London on June 14, 1971. This Founders’ Day, Hard Rock Hotel’s lobby featured the music of the era, and staff members stepped back in time, donning their best pseudo-70s costumes. The 1970s Retro Party featured a dance show, among other activities. Hard Rock Hotel at City of Dreams Macau opened in June 2009. aviation development history lecture Macau International Airport Ltd, Co. (CAM) invited Mr Zhang Baojian, regional vice president of International Aviation Transportation Association North Asia, to give a lecture to all staff on the “History of Aviation Development”. Mr Zhang compiled a hundred-year history into one hour, which he delivered with a personal and lively approach. The audience said they learned a lot and have improved their own knowledge. The speaker introduced many meaningful “first times” in the global aviation history, and talked about China’s civil aviation industry. According to a CAM press release, the seminar not only helped staff to absorb more knowledge of civil aviation, but also to learn more about the civil aviation history. citigroup pays record hkd5.4b for hong kong office tower Citigroup Inc. paid a record HKD5.4 billion ($697 million) to a unit of Wheelock & Co. for a Hong Kong office tower that will bring most of its 5,000 employees under one roof. The price for the 512,000 squarefoot property in Kowloon is the largest ever office transaction in Hong Kong, the New York-based bank said in a statement yesterday. The tower, scheduled for completion by the end of 2015, will be used to house staff currently spread out across offices in the city, said Weber Lo, the bank’s chief executive officer for Hong Kong and Macau. Citigroup joins banks and insurers in buying buildings in the city, as falling vacancies pose a challenge for companies looking for large office spaces, realtor CBRE Group Inc., which advised the deal, said in a first-quarter review report. wed 18.06.2014 th Anniversary published in partnership with macauhub.com.mo 中葡論壇 FORUM 9 Two Angolan banks plan to buy Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Portugal A ngolan banks Banco Atlântico and Banco Internacional de Crédito have made binding proposals to buy the Portuguese subsidiary of Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), according to Spanish newspaper El Confidencial. According the newspaper report two other proposals have been put forward by Banco Santander Totta and Caixa Central de Crédito Agrícola Mútuo, and the latter is considered to be of greatest interest to the chairman of BBVA, Francisco Gonzaléz. In March the Spanish bank said it planned to sell its branch in Portugal, which has posted losses over the last few years. El Confidencial said that BBVA deal in Portugal is worth between 207 million and 381 In March the Spanish bank said it planned to sell its branch in Portugal million euros, but that the transaction was likely to involve around 500 million euros. BBVA Portugal has 83 branches and 750 employees, compared to 190 branches and 820 employees in 2007, and assets of 5.471 billion euros and liabilities of 5.192 billion euros. In 2013, the Portuguese subsidiary posted a loss of 107 million euros in the banking segment alone and of 357 million euros including other business areas such as pension and investment fund management, vehicle leasing and other financial services. The newspaper also reported that BBVA Portugal accounted for 0.91 percent of BBVA’s total consolidated assets on 31 December 2013. MDT/Macauhub Mozambique T he official period for the sale of seed cotton in Mozambique began last week and production this season is expected to total 110,000 tons, an increase of 25,000 tons on the previous season, Mozambican newspaper Notícias reported. The newspaper added that the sales period this year had been brought forward by 30 days in order to take advantage of prices currently offe- red on the international market. Norberto Mahalambe, director of the Mozambican Cotton Institute (IAM) said that as of August international cotton prices would start to fall based on publication of estimates for cotton production in the northern hemisphere. “If we can place the cotton on the market before August we can take advantage of the high prices before then,” Mr Mahalambe said. This year the Mozambican government has set the minimum price for sale of seed cotton at 11.75 meticals per kilo for first-rate cotton and 8.70 metical per kilo for second-rate cotton. These prices were set following an agreement between the companies that support cotton production in Mozambique, such as Olam Mozambique and the João Ferreira dos Santos (JFS) group. MDT/Macauhub bloomberg Cotton sales campaign brought forward by 30 days The silhouette of a cotton bud is seen at sunset ad 10 CHINA 18.06.2014 wed th Anniversary 中國 Flight MH370 Didi Tang, Beijing I n the more than 100 days since her husband disappeared along with Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Zhang Qian's world has collapsed. She quit her job, sleeps rarely and prefers not to go out, except to the Buddhist temples where she has found some solace. "At the temple, I can speak from my heart to my husband," Zhang, 28, said on a recent visit to the Temple of Spiritual Light in the western hills of Beijing. She broke down in sobs before continuing. "I think he can hear me ... I have so much to tell him, there is so much I have not said. I hope the Buddha will carry those words to him and bring him back." Much of the world has moved on from the frenzied interest in the mysterious March 8 disappearance of the plane, but relatives of the 239 people missing cannot. Satellite data shows that the plane went down in a remote area of the southern Indian Ocean far from any land, but with no trace of the aircraft recovered, many cling to a flicker of hope — however faint — that their loved ones might still be alive. "It may be my fantasy, but what if one day he sends some distress signals and he gets saved, and that will be the end of this?" Zhang said. Her husband was among 153 Chinese on the plane. Chinese culture places an especially heavy emphasis on finding and seeing the remains of people believed dead before true grieving and the process of moving on can begin. The absence of proof of death has made closure elusive for all relatives, said Lawrence Pa- ap photo Time deepens agony for relatives Zhang Qian holds up a photo taken with her husband, Wang Houbin, 28 and a photo of a love letter written by him in Beijing linkas, professor of social work at the University of Southern California. "When there is no physical proof of death, it is easier to remain in (denial) for a much longer period of time," he said. "At this point, those who have not accepted the possibility that the plane crashed and all aboard were lost are relying on extended family and friends to maintain the belief that family members are still alive, or that hope is still viable until the remains are found." Liu Weijie held onto his wife's plane ticket for a U.S. trip in late May for more than two months, even though she was among the Flight 370 passengers. They were supposed to go to their son's graduation ceremony. He returned the ticket three days before the flight, and canceled his own trip as well. In messages posted to a mobile phone blog, Liu apologized to his wife for not allowing her to visit their son earlier. "I truly regret that I did not let you visit your son during the Chinese New Year. Now it's been nine months since you last saw your son," he wrote. "The sense of helplessness, the feeling of powerlessness, and the pain have not eased but only worsened as times goes by," Liu said in an interview. "Any holiday or days of significance have become unbearable. I don't want to hear any mention of them." Many of the Chinese relatives have been reluctant to talk about their missing kin to avoid any suggestion that they are gone for good and to keep the focus on finding the missing plane, though they have become somewhat more likely to speak about them now. They say their belief that their loved ones are still alive helps them get up in the morning and care for their families. "With his photos on the walls, I don't feel that he is absent, and seeing him in the photos has given me strength to do my best to take care of our small child before he returns," said Zhang Ying, whose husband also was aboard Flight 370. At the same time, it is heart -wrenching for her to be without the man who hoisted their baby above his head on weekend outings, and who fell asleep while holding her tiny hand. Zhang said she can no longer produce milk for her daughter, and that At the temple, I can speak from my heart to my husband Zhang Qian Relative her mother-in-law has lost hearing from crying so much. Cheng Liping, whose husband was on the plane, called the missing flight "a fatal blow that has spun my entire world." Her heart ached when her 6-year-old son called "daddy" to a stranger who walked out of a car in their Beijing neighborhood. As for Zhang Qian, she is rarely outside at all. She quit her work as an office clerk and shuts herself at home. "I don't go out anymore because outside I see the shadow of my husband and me together," Zhang said. Zhang met Wang Houbin nearly nine years ago in Beijing in their college freshman year. Wang was on Flight 370 returning home after working on an art exhibit in Kuala Lumpur. "I am afraid to go out. I don't speak any more," said Zhang, who only ventures out to meet other relatives of Flight 370 passengers and to visit temples. "I used to sleep a lot but I have spent many nights without closing my eyes, not even with the help of sleeping pills." Her parents have moved in with her, but sometimes they become outlets for her grief and frustration. "I throw tempers at my dad and mom because I cannot help myself," she said, bead-like tears rolling down her thin cheeks at the mention of Wang. She finds comfort in Buddhist temples, though she was not religious before the plane vanished. "I didn't believe in this in the past, but now I pray wholeheartedly for the return of my husband," she said. Zhang also recently returned to the hotel banquet hall where relatives and journalists were informed about developments earlier in the search. Those briefings were often packed, but they stopped weeks ago. "It's so empty, not even a chair," she said, standing in the middle of the room. "Just like the hearts of us relatives. There is nothing, and we have nothing." AP A plan by the world's three biggest container shipping operators to create an alliance has been scrapped after Chinese authorities blocked it. Vincent Clerc, chief trade and marketing officer at Denmark's A.P. Moller-Maersk, said yesterday that the rejection by China — which like other major economies was reviewing the merger's potential impact on the market — came as a surprise. U.S. and European regulators had pre- viously cleared the deal. As a result, the alliance of Maersk, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A. and CMA CGM of France, "as initially planned will not come into existence," Clerc said. The proposed alliance, first proposed in June last year, was to be an independently operated network with 255 vessels and was set to start operations in late 2014. The alliance was to operate a capacity of 2.6 million containers between Asia and Europe, across the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. It was intended to be an operational, not a commercial, cooperation, Maersk said. Each company would have continued to have fully independent sales, marketing and customer service functions. The decision to abandon the alliance will have no material impact on the Maersk Group's expected result for 2014, the company said. AP maerskline.com China blocks alliance of world’s biggest shippers Vincent Clerc, Maersk wed 18.06.2014 th Anniversary Chinese diplomat set to discuss oil rig in Vietnam deployed May 1, sparking antiChina riots in Vietnam that killed five Chinese nationals and injured hundreds more. Yang and Minh will discuss the oil rig when they meet at an annual bilateral event Yang is attending, Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh told reporters Monday. “As we have affirmed many times, Vietnam has always been patient to look for dialogue with China to peacefully resolve the tension in the East Sea,” Binh said, referring to the South China Sea. “This meeting, therefore, will surely be a channel and an event where the two sides can discuss the issue to find solutions to the current tension.” Minh and Yang spoke by phone in early May. Vietnam’s Fo- Restless football fans die watching World Cup A t least three Chinese football fans have reportedly died after staying up to watch the 2014 FIFA World Cup. A 39-year-old surnamed Zhou in Shanghai died on Sunday after staying up for three consecutive nights to follow World Cup games, the Shanghai Daily reported. He had a history of high blood pressure and collapsed on his couch while watching the match between Uruguay and Costa Rica. Doctors said his stroke was caused by a brain hemorrhage, the newspaper said. A 25-year-old man in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, was found dead in front of a television at home on Saturday morning, with doctors attributing his death to too little sleep. Another man, 51-year-old Li Mingqiang who used to be a professional footballer in Dalian of Liaoning province, also died while watching the Holland-Spain game with his friends, the Beijing Youth Daily reported. His friends called emergency services after Li suffered heart failure, but treatment failed to save his life. Beijing Time and Brasilia Time have a difference of 11 hours, meaning Chinese fans have to stay up through the night to follow the World Cup. The majority of games in the tournament start between midnight and 6 am Beijing time. Xinhua reign Ministry said at the time that Minh denounced China’s placement of the oil rig, saying it seriously violated Vietnam’s sovereignty, and demanded that China immediately withdraw the rig and its escorting vessels. China’s official Xinhua News Agency, however, quoted Yang as telling Minh that Vietnam should stop harassing China’s normal drilling operations. China has said its ships have been rammed more than 1,500 times by Vietnamese vessels since the dispute began. On Monday, Col. Ngo Ngoc Thu, deputy commander of Vietnam’s coast guard, dismissed the allegations, saying that 36 Vietnamese vessels have been rammed, and that 15 Vietnamese fisheries patrol staff and two fishermen have been injured. Thu also disputed Chinese accusations that Vietnamese divers left obstacles in the water to disrupt drilling operations. He said Vietnam did not use divers near the rig but that fishermen were forced to leave behind nets and other equipment because Chinese ships used water cannons to force the fishing boats to retreat. AP Australian artist detained in Beijing deported Chinese-born Australian artist Guo Jian, center, is greeted by friends as he arrives at at Sydney Airport Rod McGuirk, Canberra A 11 Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, center, arrives at a hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam ap photo A top Chinese diplomat arrived in Vietnam yesterday for the first high-level meeting between the two countries since China’s deployment of a giant oil rig off the Vietnamese coast last month increased tensions between the neighbors. Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi is scheduled to have talks with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on Wednesday. He also is to meet with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and General Secretary of the Communist Party Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Yang’s visit is the highest-level meeting between the two governments since the rig was CHINA ap photo 中國 Chinese-born Australian artist detained in Beijing ahead of the politically sensitive 25th anniversary of the deadly military crackdown on protests around Tiananmen Square arrived in Sydney yesterday after being deported. The Chinese government had said Australian citizen Guo Jian, a former protester in China's 1989 pro-democracy movement, had been detained for fraudulently obtaining a visa. Guo told media awaiting his arrival at Sydney Airport he was happy to be home. But he had little else to say. Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed in a statement that Guo had been deported "reportedly due to visa irregularities" two weeks after he was first detained. The department said it could provide no further details due to privacy reasons. The 52-year-old former soldier was detained by Beijing authorities on June 1 shortly after a profile of him appeared in the Financial Times newspaper detailing his partici- pation in the democracy movement. Chinese authorities permit no public discussion of the crackdown. Guo also may have angered authorities by creating a morbid diorama of Tiananmen Square in a Beijing studio as part of his commemoration of the event. Australia's government had said it was told Guo would be detained for 15 days and then deported. Guo's detention was part of a string of prosecutions against artists, lawyers, scholars and journalists ahead of the Tiananmen anniversary amid intense government efforts to deter coverage by international media of its remembrance. Guo was studying art in Beijing when he was swept into the 1989 student protests and witnessed the military crackdown that began on the night of June 3, 1989. Discussions of the protest and its military suppression are taboo in China, and authorities tighten security ahead of the anniversary each year. But this year's suppression was harsher than in previous years, as police rounded up activists who had received only warnings in the past. AP 12 ASIA-PACIFIC 18.06.2014 wed th Anniversary 亞太版 UNITED NATIONS rose to 14 from 12 in 2010. The exporters' list was led by the United States and followed by Italy, Germany, Brazil, Austria, Switzerland, Israel, Russia, South Korea, Belgium, China, Turkey, Spain and the Czech Republic, the survey reported. Sweden dropped off the list because its exports fell from $132 million in 2010 to $44 million in 2011. The eight countries that imported at least $100 million of small arms in 2011 were the United States, Canada, Germany, Australia, Thailand, United King- Philippines Islamic militant nabbed for US, Aussie abductions hilippine security forces have captured two Abu Sayyaf militants in a southern city, including one who allegedly was involved in the kidnappings of an American teenage boy and an Australian man, officials said yesterday. Police and army troops captured Jimmy Nurilla and Bakrin Haris on Monday in a raid on their hideout in Sangali village in the port city of Zamboanga in a volatile region where the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group has carried out kidnappings for ransom, bombings, extortion and other acts of banditry. One other militant escaped during the raid, police said. The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission said without elaborating that the militants were in possession of explosives and rebel documents when arrested. Nurilla was believed to be involved in a number of kidnappings, inclu- Pakistan 8 killed as police, protesters clash Zaheer Babar P ap photo P Australian hostage Warren Richard Rodwell, center, arrives at the Command’s headquarters in Zamboanga city in southern Philippines following his release by Al-Qaida-linked militants ding of American Kevin Lunsmann, who was 14 when he escaped from his Abu Sayyaf captors in 2011 after five months in captivity on Basilan island, near Zamboanga. Nurilla also has been suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of Warren Richard Rodwell, a former Australian soldier who was freed near southern Pagadian city in March last year after 15 months of jungle captivity, according to the commission. Ransom kidnappings have long been a problem in the southern Philippi- nes and have been blamed mostly on the Abu Sayyaf, an al-Qaida-linked group on a list of U.S. terrorist organizations, and its allied armed groups. The Abu Sayyaf, which currently has about 300 armed fighters, was organized in the early 1990s in Basilan, about 880 kilometers (550 miles) south of Manila. With an unwieldy collective of preachers and outlaws, it vowed to wage jihad, or holy war, but lost its key leaders early in combat, sending it on a violent path of extremism and criminality. AP dom, France and Italy, the survey said. South Korea dropped from the list because its imports fell from $130 million in 2010 to $40 million in 2011. The Small Arms Survey also examined records of more than 140,000 small arms, light wea- olice clashed yesterday with followers of an antiTaliban cleric critical of Pakistan's government in the eastern city of Lahore, violence that killed eight people, officials said. The cleric, Tahir-ulQadri, is based in Canada but has a network of mosques and religious centers across Pakistan. Qadri led a rally of tens of thousands of his supporters that shut down the capital last year, calling for a delay in elections to prevent electoral fraud. His plan to return to Pakistan on June 23 and rally against the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has once again put him in the limelight. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said the clashes killed eight people. The head of Jinnah Hospital, Dr. ap photo T he latest U.N. figures show China, Turkey and the Czech Republic joining the list of the world's top exporters of small arms, which is led by the United States. Italy joined the list of the top importers of small arms, which is also led by the United States, according to figures for 2011 from the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database released Monday in the annual Small Arms Survey. According to the U.N. statistics, the value of the global trade in small arms and light weapons almost doubled between 2001 and 2011 — from USD2.38 billion to $4.63 billion. The international trade in small arms ammunition saw the greatest increase followed by pistols and revolvers, sporting rifles and sporting shotguns, the survey reported. In 2011, the number of countries exporting at least $100 million of small arms annually ap photo China, S Korea, Turkey amongst major small arms exporters pons and rounds of ammunition taken into custody by police in eight U.S. cities and towns — Albuquerque, New Mexico; Boise, Idaho; Columbus, Ohio; Denham Springs, Louisiana; Houston; Los Angeles; Satellite Beach, Florida; and Washington, DC. The survey reported that handguns accounted for 77 percent of firearms seized from felons, drug traffickers and gang members, and at least 70 percent of the handguns were semi-automatic pistols. Rifles accounted for less than 12 percent of the weapons seized, and only about half were semi-automatic including assault rifles it said. Emile LeBrun, a contributing editor to the survey, told a news conference launching the report that the U.S. figures overturn stereotypes in the U.S. media of gang members armed with fully automatic weapons. The U.S. figures are also the opposite of Mexico's, he said. According to an earlier survey in Mexico, approximately 72 percent of seized weapons there were rifles and other long guns. The Small Arms Survey is an independent research project located at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. It is supported by the Swiss Foreign Ministry and contributions from 10 countries including the United States and the European Union. AP Tahir-ul-Qadri Abdur Raof, said the hospital received 80 wounded. The clashes started when authorities came to Qadri's house and seminary complex to remove security barriers that they said had turned the entire vicinity into a no-go area. "The police were heavily fired upon from inside the ... center," said Gujjar, speaking on Pakistani television. Gujjar said that gunfire killed the protesters, not police. A spokesman for Qadri, Shahid Mursaleem, said the police first shot tear gas to disperse the protesters, then opened fire on them. Mursaleem said police arrested 40 to 50 of the cleric's followers. He said the government is worried about Qadri's return and is trying to quiet him. Qadri on Twitter accused the government of trying to divert attention away from the army operations in North Waziristan, which Qadri has supported. Pakistan launched a major offensive Sunday against militants there after Sharif's push for peace talks failed to produce results. Qadri struck a chord with people last year by attacking the state's inability to solve problems such as electricity and unemployment. But his demand that the government be dissolved and replaced by a military-backed caretaker administration raised concerns that he was being used by the nation's powerful army to delay parliamentary elections. Qadri denied having any connection to the army. AP wed 18.06.2014 th Anniversary 分析 WORLD 13 ap photo USA FDA prepping long-awaited plan to reduce salt Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg Mary Clare Jalonick, Washington F ood companies and restaurants could soon face government pressure to make their foods less salty — a long-awaited federal effort to try to prevent thousands of deaths each year from heart disease and stroke. The Food and Drug Administration is preparing to issue voluntary guidelines asking the food industry to lower sodium levels, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg told The Associated Press. Hamburg said in a recent interview that the sodium is "of huge interest and concern" and she hopes the guidelines will be issued "relatively soon." "We believe we can make a big impact working with the industry to bring sodium levels down, because the current level of consumption really is higher than it should be for health," Hamburg said. The food industry has already made some reductions, and has prepared for government action since a 2010 Institute of Medicine report said companies had not made enough progress on making foods less salty. The IOM advised the government to establish maximum sodium levels for different foods, though the FDA said then — and maintains now — that it favors a voluntary route. Americans eat about 1½ teaspoons of salt daily, about a third more than the government recommends for good health and enough to increase the risk of high blood pressure, strokes and other problems. Most of that sodium is hidden inside common processed foods and restaurant meals. In addition to flavor, companies use sodium to increase shelf life, prevent the growth of bacteria, or improve texture and appearance. That makes it more difficult to remove from some products, Hamburg noted. France Roma teen in Paris left for dead after beating A vigilante attack against a Roma teenager is causing alarm at France's highest levels, after a group of people who suspected the boy of burglary seized him from his camp, beat him into unconsciousness and left him for dead. French President Francois Hollande called the attack "unspeakable and unjustifiable." In a statement yesterday, he said "all efforts should be made to find the perpetrators of this attack." Luc Poignant, a police union official, told LCI television in an interview aired yesterday that about a dozen people went into the Roma camp late Friday in the suburb of Pierrefitte-sur-Seine north of Paris after an apartment was burglarized. Police found the victim abandoned by a road. Poignant said the young man was put into a medically induced coma "because he was in so much pain." Anti-racism groups say violence in France is rising against Roma migrants, also known as Gypsies, who come primarily from Eastern Europe and are often blamed for petty crime. Many live in makeshift camps on the sides of highways or in vacant lots, lacking running water or electricity. Without regular documentation of their residence, they have a hard time enrolling children into school, applying for subsidized housing, getting health care through the national system or finding permanent work. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, in charge of French police, condemned the attackers. "It is exclusively up to security forces to ensure that public order is respected," he said in a statement. AP Once the guidelines are issued, Americans won't notice an immediate taste difference in higher-sodium foods like pizza, pasta, bread and soups. The idea would be to encourage gradual change so consumers' taste buds can adjust, and to give the companies time to develop lower-sodium foods. "I think one of the things we are very mindful of is that we need to have a realistic timeline," Hamburg said. Health groups would prefer mandatory standards, but say voluntary guidelines are a good first step. Still, Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest says he is concerned companies may hesitate, worried that their competitors won't lower sodium in their products. If that happens, "then FDA should start a process of mandatory limits," Jacobson says. That's what companies are worried about. Though the limits would be voluntary, the FDA is at heart a regulatory agency, and the guidelines would be interpreted as a stern warning. Brian Kennedy of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents the country's biggest food companies, says the group is concerned about the FDA setting targets and any guidelines should be based on a "rigorous assessment of all available scientific evidence." The food industry has pointed to a separate 2013 IOM report that said there is no good evidence that eating sodium at very low levels — below the 2,300 milligrams a day that the government recommends — offers benefits. The government recommends that those older than 50, African-Americans and people with high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease eat 1,500 milligrams a day. The American Heart Association recommends that everyone eat no more than 1,500 milligrams a day. Those pushing for sodium limits say it's pointless to debate how low the recommendations should go — Americans are still eating around 3,400 milligrams a day. Many food companies and retailers already have pushed to reduce salt. Wal-Mart pledged to reduce sodium in many items by 25 percent by next year, and food giant ConAgra Foods says it made a 20 percent reduction. Subway restaurants said it has made a 30 percent reduction restaurant-wide. The companies say that in some cases, just removing added salt or switching ingredients does the trick. Potassium chloride can also substitute for common salt (sodium chloride), though too much can cause a metallic taste. Levels can vary widely. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sodium in a slice of white bread ranges from 80 milligrams to 230 milligrams. Three ounces of turkey deli meat can have 450 milligrams to 1,050 milligrams. Those ranges give health advocates hope. AP USA | Organized crime Cartel lookouts give go-ahead from desert hilltops Astrid Galvan, Tucson M en paid to be lookouts for Mexican drug cartels used sophisticated technology to spot law enforcement and alert smugglers in the Arizona desert, a trafficking tactic under investigation by local and federal authorities for months. The arrests of the group of men mark what Pinal County authorities say is an ongoing problem in the county 113 kilometers north of the U.S.-Mexico border. Sheriff's officials say the county is ripe with cartel activity that travels north from two Arizona counties sitting directly on the border. The men used cellphones, encrypted radios, binoculars and other technologies and said they spent more than a week at a time in the desert working as lookouts, or so-called scouts. They had guns, lived on hilltops, mountains and caves, and alerted criminals smuggling people and drugs when authorities were nearby. The Pinal County sheriff's office began investigating the lookouts in February after pulling over a 22-year-old man in Eloy, between Phoenix and Tucson. Ramon Garcia was driving a van carrying 270 kilograms of food and other supplies. He told deputies he was being paid USD4,000 to pick up the van in a Phoenix suburb and drop it off in the desert. Over the next few months, deputies and U.S. Border Patrol agents conducted an investigation that led to the arrest of seven suspected scouts. Early on March 7, a Border Patrol Blackhawk helicopter descended on a lookout post near Stan- field, about 53 kilometers west of Eloy off Interstate 8. Three suspects ran, hiding in a cave and behind rocks, but all were arrested. Two of those men, Jose Aispuro and Jose Gambino-Ruiz, have pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess marijuana for sale and were sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison. Authorities made more arrests three days later. One of those apprehended, Francisco Noriega -Nunez, pleaded guilty to the same charge and received the same sentence. Garcia has pleaded guilty to assisting a criminal syndicate, a felony offense. Border agents frequently encounter lookouts and say they are crucial to drug and human smuggling. The lookouts are often men in their 20s and early 30s who spend weeks in the desert and receive food and materials originating in the U.S. The federal government should redirect money to secure the U.S. border with Mexico as it "continues to put up signs warning Americans that it is not safe to travel due to criminal smuggling," Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said in a statement. "The arrest of these drug cartel scouts on mountain tops is further proof that the border is not secure," Babeu said. The case is the first time the county attorney has prosecuted suspected lookouts, a sheriff's spokesman said. Although deputies have arrested them in the past, they typically were turned over to the Border Patrol. The federal agency did not respond to a request for comment. AP 14 ADVERTISEMENT 18.06.2014 wed th Anniversary 廣告 wed 18.06.2014 th Anniversary 分析 A rgentina's president is refusing to go along with a U.S. judge's ruling requiring a $1.5 billion repayment of defaulted bonds, even though the U.S. Supreme Court rejected her government's appeals and left the order in place. In a national address yesterday, Cristina Fernandez repeatedly vowed not to submit to "extortion," and said she had working on ways to keep Argentina's commitments to other creditors despite the threat of losing use of the U.S. financial system. Her hard line came hours after the justices in Washington refused to hear Argentina's appeal, and it could be a last effort to gain leverage ahead of a negotiated solution that both sides say they want. But with only days before a huge debt payment ordered by the court is due, many economists, analysts and politicians said the country's already fragile economy could be deeply harmed if she didn't immediately resolve the dispute. Refusing to comply with rulings that have been allowed to stand by the U.S. Supreme Court "would be very damaging to the Argentine economy in the near future," said Miguel Kiguel, a former deputy finance minister and 15 Argentina President Fernandez won’t submit to ‘extortion’ on debt ap photo Michael Warren, Buenos Aires WORLD Argentine President Cristina Fernandez World Bank economist in the 1990s who runs the Econviews consulting firm in Buenos Aires. Argentine markets were already reflecting fear. The Merval stock index dropped 11 percent after the court decision, its largest one-day loss in more than six months, and the value of Argentina's currency plunged 33 percent on the black market. Fernandez urged her country- men to "remain tranquil" in the days ahead. Bowing to the U.S. courts would force her to betray a core value that she and her late husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner, promoted since they took over the government in 2003: Argentina must maintain its sovereignty and economic independence at any cost. But a chorus of analysts said that if she complied with the ruling, it would become much easier for Argentina to borrow again, rebuilding its reserves and preventing the recession from getting even deeper. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Griesa order requires that USD1.5 billion be paid "all together, without quotas, right away, now, in cash, ahead of all the rest" of bondholders, Fernandez said. "This represents a profit of 1,608 percent, in dollars!" she complained. "I believe that in all of organized crime there has never been a case of a profit of 1,608 percent in such a short time." Singer's NML Capital Ltd. has now won in the U.S. courts — and if Argentina doesn't hand over $907 million to the plaintiffs in the next two weeks, the judge will order U.S. banks not to process Argentina's June 30 payment totaling an equal amount to all the other bondholders. Fernandez said her govern- ment "will not default on those who believed in Argentina." But analysts have questioned whether holders of restructured debt would accept payments outside the U.S. financial system. "Some people say, 'Why don't you pay them and end all this right now?'" the president said. "It's because there's another problem, even more serious. There's another 7 percent who would be able to demand payment from Argentina, right away and now, of $15 billion. That's more than half the reserves in the Central Bank. As you can see, it's not only absurd but impossible that the country pays more than 50 percent of its reserves in a single payment to its creditors." "It's our obligation to take responsibility for paying our creditors, but not to become the victims of extortion by speculators," she said. The plaintiffs said her government needs to settle now. AP ad 16 INFOTAINMENT what’s ON ... 18.06.2014 wed th Anniversary 資訊/娛樂 TV canal macau Transformers 30th Anniversary Expo Time: 11am-8pm Until: October 5, 2014 Venue: Hall F, Cotai Expo Admission: MOP100 Enquiries: (853) 2882 8818 06:00 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Group H: Russia - Korea Republic (Live) 13:00 TDM News (Repeated) 13:30 News (RTPi) Delayed Broadcast 14:30 RTPi Live 16:15 The Life We Lead (Repeated) 17:00 TDM Interview (Repeated) Pioneering the New Culture Movement - An Exhibition of Qian Xuantong Time: 10am-7pm 17:30 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Group H: Russia - Korea Republic (Repeated) 19:00 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Group A: Brazil - Mexico (Repeated) 20:30 Main News, Financial & Weather Report 21:00 Montra do Lilau 21:30 Cougar Town S3 22:00 The Life We Lead 23:00 TDM News 23:30 Sports 00:00 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Group B: Australia - Netherlands (Live) 02:00 RTPi Live 03:00 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Group B: Spain - Chile (Live) (No admission after 6:30pm; closed on Mondays) Until: October 5, 2014 Venue: Macau Museum of Art, Av. Xian Xing Hai, s/n, NAPE Admission: MOP5 (Free on Sundays and public holidays) Enquiries: (853) 8791 9814 Frames of Time - Photography of Old Business Units of Macau Time: 10am-7pm (No admission after 6:30pm; closed on Mondays) Until: July 13, 2014 Venue: Macau Museum of Art, Av. Xian Xing Hai, s/n, NAPE Admission: MOP5 (Free on Sundays and public holidays) Enquiries: (853) 8791 9814 this day in history cinema cineteatro 12 Jun - 18 Jun Macau Arts Window: The Posture of Death - Poetry and Photography by Wong Man Fai Time: 10 am to 7 pm (No admission after 6:30 pm, closed on Mondays) Until: July 13, 2014 Venue: Macau Museum of Art, Av. Xian Xing Hai, s/n, NAPE Admission: MOP5 (Free on Sundays and public holidays) Enquiries: (853) 8791 9814 The Best German Book Design Time: 12pm-10pm (Mondays to Sunday) maleficent_ room 1 (2D) 2.30, 4.30, 9.30 pm (3D) 7.30 pm Director: Robert Stromberg Starring: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley Language: English (Chinese) Duration: 97min 2pm-6pm (public holidays) Until: June 30, 2013 Venue: Caritas Library, Rua de Pedro Coutinho No.64 Cave, Edif.Tong Fong Garden Admission: Free Enquiries: (853) 6697 6977 The Best German Book Design Time: 12pm-10pm (Mondays to Sunday) 2pm-6pm (public holidays) Until: June 30, 2013 Venue: Caritas Library, Rua de Pedro Coutinho No.64 Cave, Edif.Tong Fong Garden Admission: Free Enquiries: (853) 6697 6977 Offbeat Florida man hid drugs under ‘stomach fat’ A man who weighs about 200 kilograms faces multiple charges after Florida police say he hid cocaine and 23 grams of marijuana under his “stomach fat.” According to a news release, a Volusia County sheriff’s deputy stopped a vehicle Friday after noticing that the passenger wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. Officials say 42-year-old Christopher Mitchell told the deputy that he’s too big to wear a seatbelt. The deputy says he requested a drug-detecting dog because Mitchell and the driver appeared nervous. The dog detected the presence of drugs in the vehicle. In addition to the drugs on Mitchell, deputies say they also found a handgun and USD7,000 in cash in the vehicle. Mitchell and the driver were arrested. It was not clear whether Mitchell has an attorney. sabotage_ room 2 2.30, 4.30, 7.30, 9.30 pm Director: David Ayer Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sam Worthington, Terrence Howard Language: English (Chinese) Duration: 109min x-men: days of future past_ room 3 2.30, 7.15 pm Director: Bryan Singer Starring: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman Language: English (Chinese) Duration: 131min edge of tomorrow_ room 3 4.45, 9.30 pm Director: Doug Liman Starring: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton Language: English (Chinese) Duration: 113min macau tower 05 Jun - 25 Jun maleficent (3D)_ 2.15, 4.45, 7.15, 9.45 pm Director: Robert Stromberg Starring: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley Language: English (Chinese) Duration: 97min 1965 Drink-drive limit to be introduced The government has announced it will introduce a blood alcohol limit for drivers. Anyone found to be driving when over the set limit will be penalised in the hope it will deter drivers from drink driving and make roads safer. The move comes as the number of road accidents continues to rise despite a press campaign highlighting the dangers of drink driving. Existing road safety laws will also be reinforced in a major crackdown by the government. A government spokesman announcing the plans said as yet it was unknown what the blood alcohol limit would be or how it would be tested. The Home Office and police will enforce the new law when it is revealed in the Road Safety Bill expected next year. The move is part of the government’s campaign to make people to take more care on the roads and look out for themselves, other drivers and pedestrians. “I think we are all of us conscious of the need to strengthen enforcement if this is possible at all” the government spokesman said. “What is most desirable is that more and more people exercise greater responsibility in the use of our roads” he added. Courtesy BBC News In context In January 1966 the new Road Safety Bill was introduced. It set a limit of 80mg of alcohol in 100cc of blood and it became an offence to drive when over this limit. In 1967 the breathalyser was introduced as a way of testing a person’s blood alcohol level. The introduction of the drink drive limit has dramatically reduced the number of accidents caused by being drunk when driving. However, campaigners and the government continue to promote the ‘Don’t drink and drive’ message. In 1995 the Campaign Against Drink Driving (CADD) was formed by relatives of drink-driver victims. It continues to highlight the issue of drink driving to the public and government. wed 18.06.2014 th Anniversary 資訊/娛樂 Taurus Mar. 21-Apr. 19 April 20-May 20 Today requires careful planning on your part — and fortunately, your thinking is deliberate. It’s a great time to absorb all the variables and come up with something bold and unexpected. Someone is trying to get attention by breaking all the rules — and while you’re tempted to bust them for it, you may just be playing into their hands. Try to take a measured approach to the situation. Gemini Cancer May 21-Jun. 21 Jun. 22-Jul. 22 You should be seeing things quite a bit differently by the end of the day — so make sure that you’re ready for a big shift in perspective. It’s a good time to change your plans for the better. You have got to display adaptability today — even if you’d rather just slink home and crawl back under the covers. It’s a good time to check into your newest issue and see if you can solve it quickly. Leo Virgo Jul. 23-Aug. 22 Aug. 23-Sept. 22 You need to take greater care with a person or project that seems to be taking up more mental space than it deserves. It is actually important, so make sure that you’re taking it seriously. Your energy is a bit diffuse today, so you may find it harder than usual to keep your comments productive. That’s not to say you’re mean-spirited, of course; just that you need to keep it upbeat. Libra Sep.23-Oct. 22 Oct. 23 - Nov. 21 It may be a bit harder for you to open up to new ideas today — so see if you can trick yourself! Just because you’re not feeling it, that doesn’t mean you won’t have a change of heart tomorrow. Capricorn Nov. 22-Dec. 21 Dec. 22-Jan. 19 It’s a great day to keep your mind wide-open — as long as you’re not just going along with any kooky idea that comes your way. Retain a vestige of skepticism to keep from looking ridiculous. It’s time to change something up — maybe your look, or maybe your career goals. It’s also a good time for you to step into a new role, as long as you’re not just jumping for the sake of jumping. Aquarius SUDOKU Weather Easy Medium Hard Feb.19-Mar. 20 Your divine energy is radiating out in all directions, attracting all the right people to your brilliance. It’s a great time for some new ideas, and your creative energy is nearly boundless! Change is coming, like it or not. The weird thing is it feels really sudden, but if you just let it wash over you, you should quickly realize that it’s been coming for weeks or even years. Down: 1- Con game; 2- Walking stick; 3- Served perfectly; 4- Perlman of “Cheers”; 5Wooden wheel rims; 6- Decoration at the top of a chair leg; 7- Ballot choice; 8- Concerning; 9- Young bird; 10- Delphic shrine; 11- Rate; 12- Rodeo horse; 13- Squealed; 21- Lisa, Yesterday’s solution to Bart, briefly; 23- Must’ve been something ___; 25- Pass into disuse; 27- Wall St. debuts; 28- Fr. miss; 29- Fleshy fruit; 30- Hurried; 34- Limb of a felled tree; 35- Make ___ for oneself; 36- “The Time Machine” people; 37Feathers; 38- Manure; 40- Collecting; 41- This was produced by Van Gogh, for example; 43- Mine finds; 44- Re-enter the atmosphere; 45- Sound investment?; 47- The fruit of a hen; 48- Light ___; 49- Autocratic Russian rulers; 50- Puccini classic; 52- Lhasa ___; 53- Public disturbance; 55- Get one’s ducks in ___; 56Fork feature; 57- “What I Am” singer Brickell; 58- Peruse; 61- Wind dir. Crossword puzzles provided by BestCrosswords.com Crosswords Across: 1- Sash; 6- Author Hunter; 10- Spheres; 14- Hiding place; 15- Top-flight; 16- ___ avis; 17- Slippery as ___; 18- Numbered rds.; 19- Lots and lots; 20- Military decorations; 22- Alluring; 24- Vinegar’s partner; 26- Aztec god of rain; 27- Emblem; 31- Mineral suffix; 32- Entreaties; 33- Flat surface; 36- Actor Byrnes; 39- Pearl Buck heroine; 40- For ___ (cheap); 41- Baseball family name; 42- Sun. delivery; 43- Last letter of the Greek alphabet; 44- Destroy by immersion; 45- Madrid Mrs.; 46- Assembly; 48- Bear witness; 51- Feeling of self-importance; 52- Estimator; 54- Abrading tool; 59- Carson’s predecessor; 60- Egyptian goddess of fertility; 62- Newly married woman; 63- Regal address; 64- Sgts., e.g.; 65Ancient Greek colony; 66- Estimator’s phrase; 67- Movable barrier; 68- Coarse wool cloth; Max Beijing 20 30 thundershower Harbin 15 23 cloudy/thundershower Tianjin 22 31 overcast/thundershower Urumqi 18 28 clear Xi’an 23 36 clear/cloudy Lhasa 13 27 clear/cloudy Chengdu 21 32 cloudy Chongqing 23 35 cloudy Kunming 17 24 shower/cloudy Nanjing 21 30 cloudy Shanghai 22 28 overcast Wuhan 22 33 cloudy Hangzhou 22 30 overcast/cloudy Taipei 28 33 overcast/drizzle Guangzhou 26 33 thundershower Hong Kong 28 32 shower Moscow 9 16 drizzle Frankfurt 14 24 cloudy Paris 13 22 cloudy/clear London 13 23 clear/drizzle New York 22 29 drizzle/clear Condition world Pisces Jan. 20-Feb. 18 Min China Easy+ Scorpio You can get a deeper sense of what other people are going through today as long as you tap into your positive mental energy. It’s not hard, and the insights are sure to keep you in good spirits. Sagittarius 17 The Born Loser by Chip Sansom YOUR STARS Aries INFOTAINMENT Useful telephone numbers Emergency calls 999 Taxi (Yellow) 28 519 519 Fire department 28 572 222 Taxi (Black) 28 939 939 PJ (Open line) 993 Water Supply – Report 1990 992 PJ (Picket) 28 557 775 Telephone – Report 1000 PSP 28 573 333 Electricity – Report 28 339 922 Customs 28 559 944 Macau Daily Times 28 716 081 S. J. Hospital 28 313 731 Kiang Wu Hospital 28 371 333 Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) 28326 300 IACM 28 387 333 Tourism 28 333 000 Airport 59 888 88 ad 18 SPORTS 18.06.2014 wed th Anniversary 體育 Roundup Travel Germany and US win, Nigeria-Iran play first draw Jenny Barchfield, Manaus L ap photo ight plays off the Solimoes River, duplicating the verdant canopy of the Amazon rainforest on the water’s surface. The landscape that glides by the Almirante Barbosa is breathtaking, but almost no one aboard the boat pays attention. Nearly all the passengers doze in dozens of hammocks strung from the boat’s rafters, lulled to sleep by the rocking motion, the motor’s chugging, and the tropical swelter. Boats like the Almirante Barbosa are the lifeline of Brazil’s Amazon region, carrying passengers and staple goods ranging from rice to diapers to remote riverside villages inaccessible any other way. They’re also a great way for World Cup fans in the remote Amazon city of Manaus to make a quick jungle escape between matches. The lumbering wooden vessels are slow going — the Almirante Barbosa chugs at some 20 kilometers an hour — and trips can stretch out for days or even weeks. While most tourists opt for speedboats for their jungle journeys, a riverboat day trip can give even World Cup visitors on a tight schedule a taste of authentic Amazonian life. Carved out of the heart of the world’s largest forest where the onyx waters of the Rio Negro and milky tea-hued Solimoes meet to form the immense Amazon, Manaus is host to four matches, including the game between Cameroon and Croatia today. Dozens of boats set sail from Manaus daily for destinations such as Belem, about 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) to the east, or to Sao Gabriel da Cachoiera, 860 kilometers to the west, along the Rio Negro’s headwaters near Brazil’s border with Colombia. Around the port, hustlers with loudspeakers announce their vessels’ destinations and the various stops they will make along the way. Laborers wearing hats that look like Turkish fezzes jostle up and down the docks with giant loads atop their heads, the hats’ flat surfaces helping balance impressive loads — sacks of beans and sugar, giant bunches of bananas, six-packs of beer. Manacapuru, about 79 kilometers up the Solimoes from Manaus, is among the best destinations for an easy day trip — and a ticket that’s just USD11. There’s not much to see in the town itself, but the six-hour voyage is stunning. Plus, Manacapuru is among a few destinations easily accessible by car, and a $65 cab ride gets day-trippers back to the city in an hour. Potential travelers would be wise to board well ahead of the scheduled departure and bring a hammock. Stalls in Manaus’ Adolpho Lisboa market in front of the port, and a row of shops behind the market, have hammocks for every budget, from $5 to $100-plus. Travelers without hammocks will have a hard time finding a place to sit on the boat, and competition for on-board real estate can be fierce. On the often-overcrowded vessels, hammocks are hung from the overhead wooden beams and stacked two- or even three-high bunk bed-style, with adults on the lower levels and kids above. Food is included in the ticket price, but gastronomical variety is not: Every day, there’s bread and coffee for breakfast, followed by chicken, rice and white noodles for lunch and dinner. The only other food available is fare like cookies and chips at the boat’s snack bar. AP ap photo Amazon boat trips beckon World Cup visitors A desperate Cristiano Ronaldo protests in vain to referee Milorad Mazic from Serbia Stephen Wade Sports Writer, Rio de Janeiro G ermany was supposed to be a team that would melt in Brazil’s tropics, and the United States was supposed to be a team that can’t beat Ghana. Both teams flipped the scripts on Monday and find themselves tied atop Group G. In Salvador, Thomas Mueller scored a hat trick and Germany dominated Portugal — which played with 10 men after a red card in the 37th minute — 4-0, leaving German President Angela Merkel with a big smile. Clint Dempsey scored in the first minute and rookie substitute John Brooks scored in the 86th as the U.S. defeated Ghana 2-1 in Natal, with Vice President Joe Biden watching and giving the team a postgame pep talk. Ghana had eliminated the Americans from the last two World Cups. The two games helped the World Cup continue to deliver lots of goals — 44 in the first 14 games. Nigeria played Iran in the day’s other match, and neither team added to that tally. The Group E PL W DRAW L GF-GA PNT France 1 1 0 0 3-0 3 Switzerland 1 1 0 0 2-1 3 Ecuador 1 0 0 1 1-2 0 Honduras 1 0 0 1 0-3 0 PL W DRAW L GF-GA PNT Argentina 1 1 0 0 2-1 3 Nigeria 1 0 1 0 0-0 1 Iran 1 0 1 0 0-0 1 Bosnia-Herz. 1 0 0 1 1-2 0 Group G PL W DRAW L GF-GA PNT Germany 1 1 0 0 4-0 3 USA 1 1 0 0 2-1 3 Ghana 1 0 0 1 1-2 0 Portugal 1 0 0 1 0-4 0 Group F Men chat as they travel in the “Almirante Barbosa” regional boat, on the Solimoes river near Manaus teams played the first draw of this World Cup, finishing scoreless. Argentina defeated Bosnia 2-1 on Sunday in the other Group F match, and both will feel confident after watching Nigeria and Iran fail to produce. Two seeded teams — defending champion Spain and Uruguay — were upset earlier. That fate would not befall Germany on Monday. It was Germans’ 100th World Cup match, and they had it wrapped up by halftime. Mueller, who led the 2010 World Cup with five goals, scored on either side of Mats Hummels’ headed goal as Germany took a 3-0 lead at the break. He added his third goal in the 81st. “To score three goals in the World Cup opener against such an opponent is great,” Mueller said. “After 20 minutes, we looked up at the clock and thought it was going to be a long day,” he added. “But we got into the match very well and when you lead by 2-0 in this heat and then even get the third, it was all over.” Cristiano Ronaldo started at Arena Fonte Nova despite some nagging injuries. The winner of FIFA’s best player award, he faded after threatening early in the match. He had a shot from a break that Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer blocked, but there was nobody from Portugal to pounce on the rebound. The United States scored at beginning and the end, but for most the match it was on the back foot as the Africans attacked, pushed the Americans deep into the box, but failed to finish in a physical match. Dempsey’s goal was the quickest ever by an American and one of the fastest in World Cup history. He’s the first American to score in three different World Cups. Brooks got the winner on a header in the 86th, just four minutes after Andre Ayew equalized. The 21-year-old defender was a second-half substitute and an unexpected addition to the American roster. He was overcome and fell to the ground as teammates piled on. He made his national team debut in August. “I said it to the bench minutes before, we’re going to get some chances still,” U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. “So we are still in the game after the equalizer, we just need to kind of push and push and grind it out. That’s what they did.” U.S. players ran onto the field to celebrate at the final whistle, jumping as supporters chanted “U-S-A! U-S-A!” “We have a great spirit,” Klinsmann said. “The U.S. team always has a great spirit and fights until the last second.” The defending Cup of Africa Nations champion, Nigeria will be more disappointed with the draw than Iran. Neither Iran nor Nigeria has won a match at the World Cup since 1998. AP wed 18.06.2014 th Anniversary 體育 SPORTS 19 BRAZIL BEAT Match of the day Spain hopes to reverse Maracana luck Drought over ap photo Clint Dempsey wasted no time in ending the goal drought by U.S. forwards at the World Cup. The Americans' captain scored in the first minute of their opener against Ghana — the fastest World Cup goal in his country's history. U.S. strikers had failed to find the net in the previous two tournaments: The last goal came from Brian McBride against Mexico in the second round in 2002 in South Korea. Game room No. 3 goalkeeper Mattia Perin has one foot high in the air as he leans down to return a table tennis shot. Daniele De Rossi is battling Ignazio Abate in a video game. Andrea Pirlo interrupts a pinball game to glance at the camera. The photo that defender Leonardo Bonucci posted on Instagram last week offered insight into what Italy's players do with their free time at the Portobello Resort & Safari. On Monday, goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu revealed which player is better at what on PlayStation and Xbox. "Thiago Motta gets the gold medal at war games," he said. "And I'm happy to let everyone know (De Rossi) is no good," Sirigu added with a laugh. Words of encouragement Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari sent a message to his former Portugal players after their 4-0 loss to Germany. "I tell my friends that when I was the coach at the Euro (in 2004) we also lost the first match and we still went on to the final," Scolari said. "This is what I can say to motivate them. They have to regroup to try to win the next match, and then win again to make sure they can advance. We lost it that time at home but we still reached the final. It can still happen and this Portugal team can do it." Brazilians for Portugal Outside Restaurant Haddock Grill hangs a big flag of Brazil, and a small one of Portugal. Inside, businessmen in suits and ties are having their lunch break — chattering loudly over their dishes with their eyes glued to the screen above the buffet offering. Portugal is playing its first World Cup game, and the mood suddenly turns dour as the team surrenders its second goal of the first half, en route to a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Germany. Even though Brazil has been independent from Portugal for nearly two centuries, most of the diners appear partial to the squad of their former colonizers. Spain’s head coach Vicente del Bosque, left, smiles as Diego Costa, second left, embraces Pedro Rodriguez during a training session at the Atletico Paranaense training center in Curitiba Spain v Chile Home 1.61, Draw 4.5, Away 6 T he Maracana is not filled with many fond memories for Spain, whose World Cup title is on the line at the iconic football stadium. Spain returns to the Maracana for today's [Thursday, 3am] must-win match against Chile nearly one year after a 3-0 defeat to Brazil in the Confederations Cup final. Spain's 5-1 loss to the Netherlands to open Group B was its heaviest competitive defeat since a 6-1 defeat to Brazil at the famed stadium in Rio de Janeiro at the 1950 World Cup. Spain isn't letting its poor history at one of the sport's most storied settings become a distraction, however, as it looks to reverse its poor start. matches results Germany 4 0 "The Maracana is mythical, but the only wish is for the result to be completely different from last year's Confederations Cup final and we can win," Spain midfielder Juan Mata said. Spain can take heart from two victories at the Maracana during the 1950 World Cup, 1-0 against England and 2-0 against Chile. Spain now needs to repeat that win over Chile, but preferably with an even bigger scoreline to make up for its poor goal differential. "It's a stadium with so much history, and we've played there already. It's an important place and hopefully that can work in our favor," said forward Pedro Rodriguez, who many expect to replace David Silva in the starting lineup today. "What's clear is that we cannot afford to fail." Spain will also have to deal with another change in temperature as it goes from the cool, winter weather of its training base in Curitiba to the warmer, muggier confimacau time Portugal Thu 00:00 Australia Netherlands 06:00 Cameroon Croatia 03:00 Spain Chile Iran 0 0 Nigeria Thu Ghana 1 2 USA Thu nes of Rio de Janeiro. The team tired in the humidity of Salvador against the Dutch. "We'll adapt to the change of temperature, I don't think it will affect our chances," Pedro said. Mata also thought the team would have enough time to adapt after traveling to Rio late Monday. "We're happy training here, and I don't think just because the temperature will rise a few degrees will be a determining factor or an excuse," he said. Spain has tended to start recent tournaments slowly, losing to Switzerland in its 2010 World Cup opener before drawing against Italy in its first Euro 2012 game. But both times it went on to lift the trophy. This time, however, it finds itself in an uphill struggle in perhaps the tournament's toughest group. Pedro said Spain would be keeping an eye on his Barcelona teammate Alexis Sanchez, who guided Chile to its opening 3-1 victory over Australia. "Alexis is the big star of that team, he assumes responsibility for leading it," Pedro said. "His role at Barcelona is different. Chile relies on him more, and he had a great season and scored a lot of goals." AP / Odds by Betfair Piranhas? No problem at Manaus beach ap photo Paul Logothetis Sports Writer, Curitiba Beaches are a big part of life for most Brazilians, and the locals deep in the Amazon jungle are definitely Brazilian. In Manaus, the most exotic of the 12 World Cup host cities, the residents head to the posh neighborhood of Ponta Negra to lounge on the sandy beach and take a dip in the Rio Negro, the river that joins up with the Amazon River on the other side of the city. The warm water, as its name implies, is dark, but with a bit of a red tint. Oh yeah, there are piranhas in there, too, but that doesn’t seem to bother anyone. And neither does the rain. First draw The very first day of the 2010 World Cup, both games ended as draws — one of them scoreless. The 2014 tournament made it to its fifth day and 13th match before its first tie. Nigeria and Iran ended 0-0 in their Group F opener, a dull contrast to the streak of high-scoring games, all with a winner. THE HK: Jimmy Lai’s Next Media Station BUZZ newspaper lose major ads opinion Vox Parva Benedict Keith Ip Sylvia Hui, London C 20-40 Good High Density 20-40 Residental Good Area Ambient 25-45 Good WORLD BRIEFS Persian Golf Nearly 300 armed American forces are being positioned in and around Iraq to help secure U.S. assets as President Barack Obama nears a decision on an array of options for combating fastmoving Islamic insurgents, including airstrikes or deploying a contingent of special forces. Persian Golf British Foreign Secretary William Hague says “circumstances are right” to reopen Britain’s embassy in Iran, which was closed in 2011 after hardliners overran the building and ransacked it. The announcement represents another step in the thaw in recent days between Iran and the West. Queen welcomes Chinese Premier at Windsor Castle soldiers and a meeting with Cameron at his office in Downing Street. Cameron told reporters he and Li also discussed terrorism, Iraq and Ukraine, among other topics. He did not directly address China’s human rights record, a subject that often raises Beijing’s ire. Around 100 rights activists campaigning for ap photo hinese premier Li Keqiang oversaw yesterday the signing of trade deals with Britain worth billions during an official visit that kicked off with a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle. Britain pulled out all its ceremonial stops for Li, who is on a three-day visit to boost trade ties and mend diplomatic relations that had cooled after Prime Minister David Cameron met with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama in 2012. Business, not thorny political topics, dominated the visit, with the two sides focusing on potential collaboration in nuclear power, high-speed railways and finance. Cameron announced business deals worth 14 billion pounds (USD23.7 billion), saying Britain is a “strong and good friend of China and supporter of China’s rise.” He stressed how important the countries’ ties are to Britain’s economic recovery. Earlier, a military band played to welcome Li and his wife Cheng Hong to Windsor Castle, before the queen greeted the pair in a lavishly decorated drawing room. The Chinese leader then traveled to central London for a formal inspection of British ap photo China, UK sign business deals during state visit O Clarim’s trilingual approach The Portuguese weekly newspaper O Clarim took another step forward in the first week of June – setting out on a journey to publish its very first Chinese edition. According to MDT’s interview with new director Fr. Joey Mandia in April, it was “still a dream” to transform it into a trilingual newspaper. Yet this dream has come to be realized; and on the week of Pentecost as well. This church-owned Catholic newspaper has a long history. It was founded with the help of the St. Joseph Seminary in May 1948. Since then it has always been published in Portuguese, until it began to include an English supplement in April as well as a Chinese supplement this June. Currently there are three Portuguese daily newspapers (Hoje Macau, Ponto Final and Tribuna de Macau) and one new Sino-Portuguese weekly newspaper, Plataforma Macau. Thus there are already two Portuguese newspapers that have introduced a Chinese edition to broaden its readership. It is not easy for news agencies to survive without government subsidies in Macau. O Clarim’s executive editor Jose Miguel Encarnacao discussed the subsidy situation in 2008, revealing that 16 newspaper agencies in Macau have received a total amount of 9.3 million subsidies for running their businesses, in which each of them somehow received an amount ranging from MOP 16,000 to 819,000. And frankly speaking, it is impossible to run a news agency on a tiny readership. So far, after the release of the English supplement in O Clarim, the print run in June has increased to over 1,000 copies, compared with a mere several hundred copies being made available in the Portuguese edition. Reasons vary, mostly because the supplements are free of charge, while there is a MOP 12 token for a Portuguese edition. Yet the Chinese edition has received a very sound reception from the Catholic community. In my parish, we got 20 free copies of O Clarim’s Sino-English edition for distribution every Sunday morning, and it was immediately “sold” out once they were put on the rack. No doubt the English edition will become a very important “information and formation” platform for both information sharing as well as evangelization. Macau is increasingly having more and more faithful English speakers who will benefit from reporting both the universal and local church news released in an English medium. In the Chinese community, the dominating newsletters are Aurora 晨曦, founded also by the St. Joseph Seminary in the 1950s; Macau Observer 澳門觀察報, currently led by ex-Legco member Paul Chan Wai Chi; a biweekly newsletter Faith News 信訊, led by Fr. Joao Evangelista Lau Him Sang; and many other associations, such as Caritas Macau. Each of them has a unique feature and position on reporting news, events and social issues. To me I am more than happy to see O Clarim penetrate a trilingual audience and position itself in a newspaper-like layout and content. The structure is divided by universal news, local news, and reflections on church doctrines, philosophy and events. There is also a useful annex at the transitional page, which can serve as material for continuous learning and study. I foresee that if O Clarim can work closely with other news agencies, it will become another influential information platform. by the Chinese government. Both banks said their advertising decisions were commercial. Next Media Limited, a newspaper, television and Internet company based in Hong Kong and Taiwan, is known for its strong advocacy of democratic freedoms in Hong Kong. Under its owner, Jimmy Lai, Next Media has been sharply critical of the Beijing government. Last week, an animated video on its website excoriated China’s newly issued policy paper on Hong Kong. source: dsmg In what may be a major escalation of pressure by mainland China on Hong Kong’s independent-minded news media, two major British banks have stopped advertising with one of the city’s biggest newspapers, The New York Times revealed recently, citing a top executive. The executive, Mark Simon of Next Media Limited, said that two London-based banks, HSBC and Standard Chartered, ended a longtime advertising relationship late last year with the Apple Daily paper after being told to do so Roadside Air quality Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, right, meets with British Prime Minister David Cameron as he arrives for a meeting at 10 Downing Street Tibetan independence and other issues staged a colorful protest near Downing Street, fighting for attention with a rival pro-China group. A heavy police presence held the protesters at arms’ length, though their chants could be heard as Cameron and Li shook hands and posed for photographers. Li’s meeting with the queen was a significant political gesture because the privilege is typically granted to a head of state. Analysts say China likely pushed for the royal audience, underscoring its increasingly aggressive approach to diplomacy. As the world’s second largest economy and a rising political force, Beijing considers its leaders deserving of all honors and distinctions when they go abroad — and it isn’t afraid to make demands. China and the U.S. have tangled over protocol surrounding state visits, with Beijing insisting they be defined as top level. The last Chinese premier to visit Britain was Wen Jiabao in 2011. AP India Two crowded buses went out of control and fell off roads in separate accidents in the Himalayan foothills in northern India, killing a total of 21 people. Both accidents happened as the buses were negotiating winding mountainous roads. India has the world’s deadliest roads, with more than 110,000 people killed annually and most accidents blamed on reckless driving, poor road maintenance or aging vehicles. Albania Albanian authorities are sending hundreds more police to a lawless southern village where suspected marijuana growers used rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machine guns in response to a police drug raid. Police said yesterday they were increasing their numbers on the outskirts of Lazarat from 500 to 800 after sporadic shooting continued overnight, wounding a special forces police officer. Germany German prosecutors have charged Croatia’s former spy chief with being an accessory to murder in the 1983 killing of a Yugoslav dissident in Bavaria. Croatia extradited Josip Perkovic to Germany in January to face prosecution over the shooting and beating of Stjepan Djurekovic. The dissident’s murder in Wolfratshausen, near Munich, was allegedly carried out by Yugoslavia’s secret service, which was notorious for eliminating opponents of the communist regime.